S&P Global Market Intelligence

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on Feb. 27, 2025, at the Dirksen Senate Building in Washington, DC. Warren has been one of the private equity industry's most vocal critics in Congress. Source: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images A new law set to take effect Friday, July 10, that limits — for the first time — private equity purchases of single-family homes takes aim at a practice blamed for reducing the availability of affordable housing.

Securities lending markets delivered a record first half of 2026, with revenues reaching $8.8 billion, up 33% year-over-year, driven by rising loan balances, stronger utilization, continued ETF growth, and exceptional demand for Asian equities linked to the global AI investment boom. June revenues increased to $1.74 billion (+20% YoY) while Q2 generated $5.0 billion (+34% YoY), marking the strongest H1 on record.

S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week. The value of coinvestments between private equity and institutional investors has soared in 2026, largely because of huge deals that involve AI companies. Coinvestments reached $198.19 billion between Jan.

Utility stock prices have become more intertwined with data center power demand in recent years, prompting a valuation reassessment. Source: George Frey/AFP via Getty Images. AI data centers have upended the traditional investor view of electric utilities over the last two years, transforming a predictable industry that acted as a hedge against economic downturns into a growth sector with enormous upside, but also greater risk.

After raising hundreds of billions of dollars in private markets to fuel unprecedented growth, key GenAI companies are moving their fundraising efforts to public markets. Join us for our complimentary webinar on July 22nd as market experts from S&P Global and KPMG break down the latest funding totals for GenAI and discuss growing fundraising in public markets.

US banks expect the expense benefits from AI adoption to trump perceived revenue growth opportunities, according to a D.A. Davidson survey. The survey found that US banks project the expense benefits of AI to be about twice the size of the revenue opportunities over the next two to three years. Banks anticipate an average 4.5% to 5% decline in expenses in relation to AI adoption, compared with a 2.5% to 3% increase in revenue. Larger banks anticipate greater benefits in both categories.

Loan growth strengthened again in the second quarter, supporting expectations for net interest income even as tough competition likely weighed on loan spreads and funding needs put upward pressure on deposit prices, analysts said. Some are asking how long the momentum can last. Year-over-year loan growth across domestically chartered banks ranged from 6.3% to 6.7% during the weeks ending in the second quarter through June 24, according to the most recent weekly data from the Federal Reserve.

Key implications – Lithium carbonate-spodumene spreads have entered a normalization phase as mine restarts and inventory rebuilding reduce salt pricing power. – Carbonate continues to outperform hydroxide on resilient demand for lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and energy storage systems, although renewed nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) demand remains the principal upside risk.

The number of private equity exits slowed during the first half of 2026, as market uncertainty continued to prevent buyers and sellers from finding common ground on valuations. Global private equity and venture capital firms announced 1,504 exits between Jan. 1 and June 30, down 6% from the 1,601 exits recorded in the first half of 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

As we enter the second half of 2026, markets are navigating a shifting backdrop shaped by moderating inflation, evolving central bank policy, geopolitical uncertainty, and the growing influence of AI on growth expectations and market leadership. Beneath the surface, elevated concentration and diverging earnings trends are driving a wider range of outcomes across sectors and companies. Join us for our mid-year outlook as we examine how these dynamics are shaping markets and portfolio positioning.